Fountain-pen.



No. 682,188. Patented Sept. l0, l90l. H. GRASS.

FOUNTAIN PEN.

V (Application filed Nov. 3, 1900.)

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

HENRY GRASS, OF FLOWVERDALE, VICTORIA.

FOUNTAIN-PEN.

SPEGIEEICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 682,188, datedSeptember 10, 1901.

Application filed November 3, 1900. $erial No. 35,311. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY GRASS, a subject of the Queen of Great Britainand Ireland, residing at Flowerdale, nearBroad ford, in the Colony ofVictoria, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fountain-Pens; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The object of this invention is to provide improvements infountain-pens,iucludingdevices for feeding ink to nibs.

My pen is of that class in which the ink is not supplied to the nib bycapillary attraction, but by a direct compression on the inkreservoir atintervals during use. In this class of pen there has been a liability tosupply the nib with either too much or too little ink. Then in the classof capillary-attraction feeders, or those in which the user does not atany time compress the ink-reservoir, there is the defect that the fiowof ink may become scanty, and it is not possible to make for a long timethe same heavy ink-charged strokes upon paper which can be made with anordinary pen dipped as required into an ordinary ink-well. In many suchfountainpens the ink is at times apt toaccumulate about the nib anddrop, so as to make blots. The above-named scantiness cannot be said tobe a bar to the use of fountain-pens, yet as the supply of ink to thenib is comparatively smallthis feature detracts from the comfortable useof such pens in many hands.

My invention enables the writer to produce continuously bold heavywriting, to employ any nib of suitable size he pleases, and to changethe nib at will without difficulty or danger of damaging the pen. Tosecure these advantages, I attach to the pen-handle a nib section orplug havinga separate attachment, which I term an ink-guide, and nearthis guide and partly touching it is provided an ink-receiver consistingof a peculiarlycoiled wire, to which wire is supplied a charge of ink,as hereinafter set forth. I also provide the handle of the pen with anink-reservoir, an ink-feed device for charging the said coil, and otherfeatures hereinafter explained. By having the ink-guide completelydisengageable from the nib section or plug the ink-receiver may be takenout, cleaned, and replaced when required without interference with thenib, or the cleaning may take place without the removal of the saidreceiver.

In order now to further explain my invention, reference will be made tothe accompanying drawings, in which views of a pen containing the sameare exhibited.

Figures 1 and 3 represent, on dilferent scales, (largerthan thenatural,) plan views of the exterior, Fig. 1 being as seen from aboveand Fig. 8 from below, while Fig. 2 shows, on the scale of Fig. 3, avertical longitudinal middle section. ted in these views to exhibitother parts more clearly.

Any usual kind of movable cap protects the nib when the latter is not inuse. This is not shown, but will be. well understood, and it forms nopart of my invention In the views, a is a hollow holder or stem formingan ink-reservoir b, with at the lower end an openinginto which isscrewed the nibcarrying plug 0, through which passes an inkfeed tube orduct 6, the exitof which projects under the back part of the nib and ismarked d. The plug 0 has a nib-slit g or other known means for thereception of the back end of a nibf; but this slit or means does notcommunicate with the interior Z) of holder at. It has also another shortslit 9 below slit g, the lower slit being for the reception of the backend of an ink-guide h, which is inserted beneath the nib f and forms,with it and the plug, a chamber j. The ink-guide It (only one-half ofwhich is shown in Fig. 3) is curved and has preferably corrugations, as70, near its point, as shown.

11 is an aperture in guide it, at the back end, to enable the guide tobe more easily withdrawn should it set firmly.

Into chamber 3', at the back of which is the exit d, I place theink-receiver, consisting of a piece of springy coiled Wire Z, of somenoncorroding metal capable of receiving a charge of ink and of allowingthe same to be drawn ofi by the nib in the action of writing. The bodyof this receiver is spiral and does not touch either the nib or theguide h; but the Parts are broken away or omit:

back end 172 is enlarged to touch both nib and guide firmly, and it isseated against the plug 0. The coils at the fore end diminish indiameter, so-as to be able to reach close to the nib-point at this (thenarrowest) part of chamber j. 7

Referring now to the means of supplying ink to the receiver, the holder0, is encircled by a band 01, of metal or rigid material, adapted to beturned around said holder, but not to slide along it, being fitted intoa recess 0 in said holder to prevent it from so sliding. p is an ovalaperture through the holder at on the upper side of the recess 0, and qis a short tube of rubber open at both ends, each end being providedwith a thickening or lip 7', adapted to fit or spring tightly into agroove or recess 8 around the inside of the holder,

into which the tube may, furthermore, be

cemented, so'preventing leakage. There is also an aperture tin the bandat, by turning which the rubber q maybe either exposed to View ataperture p or may be completely covered in. When the rubber is exposedto view-tha,t is, aperture t is over aperture p a writer can when usingthe pen press down upon the rubber occasionally, and thus force ink outthrough exit d into the receiver Z. The coils of this receiver do notquite touch, ahd thus when the pressure on the rubber is released theair will have access to exit (1, so

that only a portion of the ink supplied to receiver Z will be drawn backto the reservoir 1). The ink reaching the receiver naturally tricklesdownward and meets both the nib above and the guide h below, the lowerend of the receiver being always when in use in ,a oath of ink; butwhe'n'the rubber at p is pressed in the ink will also be squeezed intoand through the sides of the receiver Z and so will reach the nibcomparatively far back, as well as trickle down inside the receiver tothe nib-point. To hold the receiver in place, touching the nib near thepoint, and to prevent its shifting through jolting of the pen,

the guide-corrugations It are found serviceable.

In usingthis invention although the ink is intermittently supplied tothe nibthat is to say, a charge of ink is forced out at d from time totime as required by the writer-yet this is easily done by lifting,drawing back, and then pressing down the point of the forefinger on therubber in the aperture 19, the said aperture being so placed that thesaid action of the forefinger is easily afiected.

In Fig. 2 the aperture tin the revoluble band '11 at the recessed partof handle ais supposed to be located on the side of the observer, andtherefore it is not seen in this sectional view.-

IVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States, is

1. In afountain-pen of the class indicated the combination with a handlehaving a reservoir, of the plug having a nib-slit and an ink-guide slitor the like, an ink-feed tube projecting from the said plug and havingits exit below the back of the nib, a tapering coil Zforming anink-receiver with its rear large end m meeting the plug and its frontsmall end touching the nib and touching an ink-guide and the saidink-guide h which is inserted in the slit in the plug all substantiallyas and for the purposes set forth.

2. In a fountain-pen of the class indicated the combination with ahandle having a reservoir, provided with a recess 0, aperture 19, andgrooves s, of a rubber tube q with a lip r at each end and seated ineach case in the groove 5 and a revoluble band it fitting in the recess0 and having an aperture 15 all substantially as and for the purposesset forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

, HENRY GRASS.

Witnesses:

G. G. TUBE, W. H. OUBLEY.

